Jennifer Saunders in planning battle over home extension
The Absolutely Fabulous and Bottom stars bought the £2m country retreat to enjoy rural life, and said they plan to move there full time.
The pair, who currently split time between a London town house and their Devon home, want to carry out landscaping and construction works at the property.
Last year they were granted planning permission to create a new entrance and parking area, extend a workshop, create a terrace and move an existing greenhouse. They also want to replace a window, build a new garden pavilion and install air source heat pumps and a solar array.
Permission was granted with conditions attached, but the couple have now applied for several of these to be 'discharged'.
This includes the requirement to remove an external staircase and first-floor door in their entirety within a year of the original permission and installing the first-floor window shown in plans within the same timescale.
Sensitive alteratons
The couple also want to remove the stipulation that details of the 'new replacement painted timber door' should be submitted and approved in writing by planners.
The planning application, currently under consideration by Dartmoor National Park Authority, also seeks to remove a third condition that details of how and where air source heat pumps will be installed is approved in advance.
In documents to support the original application, their representatives wrote: 'Jennifer and Adrian have lived at Teigncombe Manor for over 30 years. Their work has meant that the couple splits their time between London and Devon.
'However, Jennifer and Adrian anticipate in the coming years reducing the amount of time spent away from home and living full time at Teigncombe Manor. They wish to make some sensitive alterations to the existing outbuildings in order to better suit their current needs and lifestyles.'
But building conservation officer Clare Vint, for the Dartmoor National Park Authority, raised concerns and wrote in her report: 'As the application currently stands the impact of the proposals on the significance of the listed buildings and their setting has not been minimised. There is also insufficient justification for the works and minimal public benefit.'
The council report states that settlement on the site predates the Domesday Book of 1086, and the 16th-century Manor House is Grade II-listed.
Ms Vint added: 'The interior and exterior of the building are of high significance architecturally, historically and archaeologically.'
She said the air source heat pump and a relocated oil tank would need to be screened to minimise the visual impact, and entrance walling, location and size of vehicle access 'should not be altered'.
Plans for the degree of negative impact of the solar panels can only be fully assessed with details of the amount of vegetation that would need to be removed, she added.
Ms Vent also recommended a number of amendments to 'minimise the impact on the building'. These included painting external stairs black to reduce their visibility and screening the air source heat pump or relocating it to a less visible location.
The application on behalf of Saunders and Edmondson stated that 'some works within the listed curtilage of the cottage were previously undertaken without consent. This application seeks to regularise those works, with no structural alterations proposed within the cottage.'
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